Police interview commuters Wednesday at Pitt River Road and Mary Hill Road in Port Coquitlam where a girl was struck by a vehicle the previous afternoon and killed.

Photograph by: Ric Ernst
, VANCOUVER SUN

METRO VANCOUVER -- Coquitlam Mounties have released surveillance footage which may show the suspect leaving the scene of Tuesday’s hit-and-run that killed a popular 16-year-old girl.

The minute-and-a-half video was captured around 3:30 p.m. from a house less than a block from the dangerous intersection of Pitt River Road and Mary Hill Road where Annie Leung had just been hit.

About 10 seconds into the video a dark pickup truck noses into the frame, a man clad in white clothes exits the driver’s side and runs out of the frame back toward the intersection. Several cars drive by and then about a minute later the same man returns to his truck and drives away.

The driver in the video matches police’s earlier description of the suspect as an older white man driving a black Ford F-150 pickup truck with a black canopy. In a news release accompanying the video, Mounties would not confirm the man was the suspect, saying, “investigators have not identified or spoken to the man seen in the video but believe he could have important information about the critical moments immediately before and after the collision.”

“We have received a lot of information from the public,” Insp. Paulette Freill said in the release. “Today we are asking for the public’s help identifying the man in this video and two other people who were at the scene so our team can speak to them about what they saw.”

Besides the suspect, investigators are also appealing to two other men to come forward, according to the release.

One man was driving a silver truck that witnesses report was very close to the collision. He is not a suspect and police do not have a description of his appearance.

The other witness sought is a man who gave Leung first aid right after the crash.

Coquitlam RCMP Cpl. Jamie Chung said the girl had been walking with her friend along a marked crosswalk across Mary Hill when she was struck by a truck that was making a left turn onto Pitt River.

The truck stopped briefly and the driver looked back before taking off, "just leaving the girl on the ground," Chung said.

Leung was described Wednesday by others at her school as "very nice" and noted for her friendliness with other students.

"It was so unnecessary. She was a good girl," said Riverside secondary school student Cameron Wotherspoon, as he stood at the intersection where the girl was hit at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. "It's kind of depressing."

Although Wotherspoon didn't know the girl personally, he knew of her reputation as a popular girl at the school.

"She was very nice. She was in my P.E. class last year and she was fun to be around," said another student, who didn't want to be identified. "This morning a lot of people at the school were crying. It was pretty bad. Everyone's pretty shocked. She was well liked in school."

Ariana Hopkins, who is attending Riverside for her first year, remembers her fondly. "She looked really nice. I barely had any friends and she was really nice to me."

Leung is the latest hit-and-run victim in a type of accident that occurs on average 49,000 times a year in B.C., claiming nine lives and injuring 2,200, according to ICBC statistics.

Over a five-year period, 2008 was the worst year for hit-and-run deaths in B.C. with 13, according to ICBC statistics. In 2012, four people died after hit-and-run collisions.

Not surprisingly, the vast majority of B.C. hit-and-run incidents occur in the Lower Mainland with an annual average of 34,000 incidents, 1,600 injured victims and six fatal victims.

But failing to stop at the scene of an accident is a bad idea from many perspectives, say police.

Quite apart from moral imperatives, staying to help an injured person can have a critical impact on that person's health, Vancouver police Sgt. Randy Fincham said.

More often than not, collisions are accidents.

"They are called accidents for a reason. They are not done willfully," Fincham said. "You're better off providing your side of the story at the time of a collision rather than having police track you down and have the impression you're hiding something."

If you do leave, contact the police as soon as you can. "We do recognize your mind may be over-reacting. You may be frightened. You may not be thinking."

If you leave the scene to get medical care, that will also be considered, Fincham said.

Vancouver police treat hit and runs involving injury or death "as significantly as a potential homicide investigation where you'd look at a team of investigators looking at forensic evidence," Fincham said. "You've got a fairly good chance of getting caught."

Investigations will include forensic analysis of the victim and any evidence left at the scene, investigations into potential witnesses and potential video evidence, he said. "We have a very good success rate in finding people in these scenarios," Fincham said.

“What kind of people cause an injury or death and run? Those who have been drinking and hope to avoid detection, and those who "don't have particularly high ethical standards," said Neil Boyd, professor and director of Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology.

"It may be a tragic deviation from what otherwise is a decent life, but my guess is not," Boyd said.

Under the Canadian Criminal Code, if you fail to stop at the scene of an accident with intent to escape civil or criminal liability, you could end up in prison for up to five years. Fail to stop knowing that someone is injured, you could end up in prison for up to 10 years.

If you fail to stop knowing that someone is dead, or if someone dies after you've been reckless about their injuries, you could end up in prison for life.

Under B.C.'s Motor Vehicle Act, drivers involved in an accident must remain at or immediately return to the scene of the accident, and provide their name and address as well a licence and insurance details.

Hit-and-run drivers may be held in breach of their auto insurance for failing to remain at the scene of a crash and may be personally responsible for paying back any money paid to the victims.

There may also be an impact on a hit-and-run driver's insurance, depending on such things as driver liability and crash history. ICBC will cover victims of hit-and-run crashes on B.C. highways whether or not the driver is identified.

Police are asking anyone with information related to the collision or the identity of the suspect to contact the Coquitlam RCMP’s traffic section at 604-945-1550 with the file number 2013-27102. People can also leave an anonymous tip through CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477(TIPS), www.solvecrime.ca, by texting your message to CRIMES (274637) with the subject BCTIP or by leaving a tip on Facebook.

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